Iconic Gig Harbor coffee shop opens again

Le Bistro resurrects as a smaller, scaled-down version

Susan Schell

of the Gateway

A lot of drivers traveling at the end of North Harborview Drive may have been rubber-necking earlier this week as they passed the yellow Victorian-style house on the corner.

Is that an “open” sign in the window of the Le Bistro Coffee House? And why is the sign from The Great Australian Bite restaurant across the street sitting in Le Bistro’s parking lot, pointing to the building?

The red neon “open” sign was brightly lit Monday morning as proprietor Debi McAlpine and her family worked throughout the weekend to get the shop up and running. The old-fashioned coffee shop was a favorite among many locals who were disappointed when it closed last summer.

McAlpine had hung up her apron and planned to sell the building, but the deal fell through.

“I contacted a few commercial developers about the property,” she said. “And they told me this is not a good time to do this. I had two choices then — either lease it or reopen it.”

Most of the restaurant’s fixtures had been sold, but at about the same time, The Great Australian Bite — Le Bistro’s neighbor across the street — was going out of business. Its owner decided to return to Australia.

“We bought a lot of his fixtures, the oven and the warming oven,” McAlpine said. “We also bought his Australian meat pies.”

Hence the Australian sign out front.

McAlpine also said patrons can call ahead and order the pies, which take about 30 minutes to make.

Le Bistro has changed a bit inside, but at this point, McAlpine said it’s still a work in progress. The café-style seating still exists around the front counter, and a few tables dot the front room. The back room has morphed into a coffee house-style seating area with a sofa and a love seat. The décor is sparse, and the menu has been scaled down.

“Along with the meat pies, we’ll serve soup, sausage rolls and sandwich wraps for lunch,” she said. “We’ll have a real limited breakfast, with oatmeal, breakfast wraps and quiche. And, of course, muffins, rolls and cinnamon buns. I think we’ll add more items to the menu over time, but we’re just easing into it at the moment.”

The limited menu didn’t seem to affect patrons. Even though the restaurant had literally been open just a few hours, the tables were full and there were a few people seated at the bar.

“I did not do any advertising,” McAlpine said. “I just turned on the ‘open’ sign at 6 a.m., and people started coming in.”

Most of the visitors to the resurrected Le Bistro were faithful customers. Barbara Marontate was sitting comfortably at a corner table, reading a newspaper. She said she had been eating at the coffee house for 14 years.

“I come this way through town, and I saw the sign and thought, ‘Oh, she’s open,’ ” Marontate said. “I really missed it when they closed. I missed Debbie and Danny. They do a wonderful job.”

Le Bistro opens again

Address: 4120 Harborview Drive, Gig Harbor

Phone: 253-514-6098

Reach Lifestyles Coordinator and reporter Susan Schell at 253-853-9240 or by e-mail at susan.schell@